Technologies for providing remote access to networked resources include a variety of server/client software combinations. MetaFrame™ server software in communication with Intelligent Computing Architecture (ICA) clients, available from Citrix Systems, Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and X Servers in communication with X Windows clients available from the X Consortium are two examples that provide remote access to applications executing on a server.
Computer user behavior and the stability of network communication channels over which their computers communicate are often unpredictable. Networked users on occasion need to change computing environments while forgetting to, or without having the opportunity to fully save their work product or to shut down their systems. In other cases, communication channels unexpectedly fail or computers crash, which can result in the loss of work product, if the session is not restored or terminated gracefully.
When a computer user changes from one computing environment to another, access control decisions may change. Existing methods fail to provide smooth reconnection of the user to sessions where access does not change while maintaining unauthorized sessions for future reconnection when the user returns to an authorized environment. A method that detects shifts in computing environments, identifies changes in access control rights stemming from such shifts, and reconnects the user only to authorized sessions would be desirable.